About me

This blogname was derived from the novel The Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby: absurdism as weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. (The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. It could as well be my motto).
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. I started my 'Abu Pessoptimist' blog in January 2009 out of anger during the onslaught in Gaza. The other one, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Saturday, November 25, 2017

At least 305 killed in attack on mosque in North Sinai

Updated. Egyptian media reports say at least 305 people have
been killed in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque in the country's
northern Sinai Peninsula.

The attack occurred in Bir al-Abed, a town in North Sinai province, shortly after Friday prayers.

Egyptian state media MENA put the death toll at 305, citing an official security source. It also said that 128 people were wounded in the attack.

The mosque in Bir al-Abed, about 40km west of El Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai, was frequented by Sufis.
The government declared a three-day period of mourning for the victims.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned the attack, which
he described as "criminal" and "cowardly" in a televised statement on
Friday. He expressed condolences to the victims and their families and said the attack "will not go unpunished"."The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force," Sisi said.
The Egyptian military launched air strikes on targets in mountainous
areas around Bir al-Abed hours after the attack, security sources and
witnesses told Reuters news agency.
Officials said the attackers arrived in four 4WD vehicles and
carried out their attack while the sermon was being delivered after
Friday prayers.
Local media reports said the attackers planted explosives and then opened fire on worshippers.
The attackers next targeted fleeing worshipers with gunfire.
The targeted mosque is known as a ''sufi'' mosque, that is of a brand of mystical islam. The sufis are considered heretics by the severe salafists. Apart from that there exist from old ties between the Egyptian militairy intelligence and te sufi community. Allthough nobody sofar claimed the attach it is widely believed that the Ansar al Maqdisi (Isis in Egypt) were responsible for this unbelievable act.